Slightly later in the year than usual, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered the Autumn Budget.

Outlining key financial measures and spending plans that are set to shape the economic landscape in the coming year, Reeves stated “These are my choices. Not austerity. Not borrowing. Not turning a blind eye to unfairness. My choice is a Budget for fair taxes, strong public services, and a stable economy.”

Let’s dive into what’s changing (and what isn’t), that may impact you.

Wage bills increasing

From April 2026, you’ll be paying more for staff:

National Living Wage (21 and over): Up by 50p from £12.21 to £12.71 an hour.
18-20 Year Old Rate: Up by 85p from £10.00 to £10.85 an hour.
16-17 Year Old and Apprentice Rate: Up by 45p from £7.55 to £8.00 an hour.

This is part of the government’s commitment to establish a single adult rate for minimum wage.

Plus, Employment Tax thresholds, e.g. National Insurance and Income tax, are frozen until 2031. This means as wages naturally rise, more of your employees’ money gets taxed at higher rates. They’ll feel the pinch, which often leads to pressure for pay rises beyond the legal minimum.

Income from property and dividends is going up by 2%

A new system of separate tax rates will be created for property income with the new rates applying from 6th April 2027.

The basic property rate will be 22%
The higher property rate will be 42%
The property additional rate will be 47%

Then the tax rates applied to dividends will be increased for the basic and higher tax rates from 6th April 2026:

The basic rate will increase to 10.75%
The higher rate will increase to 35.75%

There are no proposed changes to the additional tax rate for dividends.

And remember that this is the money you can take out of the business after you have paid corporation tax …

Your pension contributions will cost more if you offer salary sacrifice pension schemes to your employees

If you offer salary sacrifice pension schemes (where employees swap salary for pension contributions to save tax), that tax saving is disappearing. Currently neither you or your employee pay National Insurance Contributions on the salary sacrificed into extra pension contributions. From April 2029, you and they will pay National Insurance on pension contributions over £2,000 a year.

Less tax relief on equipment and business sales

Three changes that’ll hit your wallet:

Tax relief on equipment is being cut from 18% to 14% from April 2026. You’ll get less tax back when you buy vans, machinery, or other business kit. However, a new 40% First Year Allowance is also being introduced from January 2026 for qualifying expenditure – more detail on this to come.

Selling your business to your employees? The tax break for Employee Ownership Trusts has been halved from November 2025. You’ll now pay tax on 50% of the gain instead of getting full relief. That’s still better than selling as a trade sale.

Capital Gains Tax ‘Business Asset disposal relief’ (BADR) rate is rising from 14% to 18% from April 2026.

Changes to venture capital reliefs and Enterprise Management Incentives

For those businesses seeking investment, or wanting to retain key employees, there were some hidden changes announced that are all coming in from April 2026:

The Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) scheme will be expanded to allow scale ups, as well as start ups, to offer tax-advantaged shares to the talent they need to grow.

The Venture Capital Trust (VCT) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) limits will be increased to allow investors to follow on as companies grow beyond the start up phase.

However, to better balance the amount of upfront tax relief offered by VCTs, compared to the EIS and incentivise funds, to support high-growth companies, the government is reducing the upfront VCT income tax relief from 30% to 20%.

New costs and admin coming your way

Keep these dates in your diary:

April 2026: Homeworking expense relief disappears (if you’ve been claiming tax back for employees working from home).

April 2028: Electric company cars will start paying a mileage tax (3p per mile for EVs, 1.5p for hybrids). At the moment how this will be administered is still unknown.

April 2029: All your VAT invoices must be sent electronically in a specific format. If you are still invoicing on paper, it is now time to move over to a digital accounting system.

HMRC is coming after small businesses harder

The government is investing money into more tax enforcement hoping to raise £2.3 billion by specifically targeting small businesses. They’re setting up dedicated teams to tackle fraud and evasion. Translation: make sure your books are spotless and you’re not cutting corners on tax.

What Should You Do Now?

1. Review your wage budgets for April 2026 and factor in the increases.

2. Look at whether you have the right balance of PAYE and dividends for your personal remuneration.

3. Look at your pension scheme setup and work out what the 2029 changes to salary sacrifice scheme will cost you.

4. Get your financial records and tax compliance absolutely watertight (HMRC is watching).

The theme here is simple: your costs are rising, your tax breaks are shrinking, and compliance is getting stricter, so budget accordingly.

If you would like to discuss any of the Autumn budget in further detail, or to understand how these changes may impact you personally, please do get in touch.

Disclaimer: The information mentioned in this blog was correct at the time of posting (November 2025) and has not been updated for any future changes in tax law or HMRC practice. The contents of this blog has been produced as a helpful reference point, and the information provided should be used as a guide only. You should discuss your specific circumstances directly with us before taking any action based on the information included in this blog.